Oilers’ Connor McDavid, at 20, Has Skills for the Ages

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Connor McDavid is the youngest player in league history to wear the captain’s C.CreditBruce Bennett/Getty Images

By Andrew Knoll

Jan. 20, 2017

When Canada played the United States in the final of the world junior hockey championships this month, Connor McDavid was still young enough to be eligible for the Canadian team. Instead, he was leading the race for the N.H.L. scoring title and propelling the Edmonton Oilers toward their first playoff berth in a decade.

A little more than halfway through his first full season, McDavid, a center who turned 20 this month, leads the N.H.L. with 56 points through 49 games. The youngest player in league history to wear the captain’s C, he has the Oilers in third place in the Pacific Division. He won the fan voting to be captain of the Pacific Division team at the All-Star three-on-three tournament on Jan. 29 in Los Angeles.

But for Kevin Lowe, the former general manager and star defenseman for the Oilers, testament to McDavid’s ascent lies elsewhere.

“What really emphasizes his status already is when I talk to former pro hockey players and he’s the first guy they talk about,” said Lowe, now the Oilers’ vice chairman, who won six Stanley Cups as a player. “Everybody in the hockey world is excited about this guy and excited to watch him.”

McDavid was described as a generational talent long before he was drafted No. 1 in 2015. But any judgment on whether he would fulfill those expectations was deferred when he broke his clavicle early in his rookie season. He missed 37 games but still finished with 48 points in 45 games, a pace he has improved upon this year.

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McDavid against the Carolina Hurricanes in October. “Everybody in the hockey world is excited about this guy and excited to watch him,” says Kevin Lowe, the Oilers’ vice chairman.CreditJason Franson for The New York Times

Now closing in on 100 games and already past 100 career points, McDavid has earned the admiration of his contemporaries and hockey’s old guard.

Scotty Bowman, who holds the N.H.L. record for coaching wins, has compared the expectations for McDavid to those for Guy Lafleur, perhaps the most coveted amateur in the history of the Montreal Canadiens. Bowman and Toronto Maple Leafs Coach Mike Babcock have likened McDavid’s speed and dominance to those of the peerless defenseman Bobby Orr.

Orr, McDavid’s agent and mentor, has known him since he was 13. McDavid has been called “The Next One,” after “The Great One” — the nickname for the former Oilers star Wayne Gretzky, the league’s career leader in points by far.

Gretzky is now the vice chairman of the Oilers Entertainment Group as part of an organizational restructuring set in motion by the arrival of McDavid last season and a new arena this season. Though the two are not in constant contact, Gretzky has cultivated a relationship.

“Whenever he’s talking, you make sure you’re listening,” McDavid said of Gretzky.

Gretzky, who arrived in Edmonton in 1979 at age 18, told The Canadian Press that McDavid was the best 19-year-old player he had ever seen.

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A McDavid fan, of which there are many now as he propels the Oilers toward their first playoff berth in a decade.CreditJason Franson for The New York Times

McDavid said of Gretzky: “He’s the best player to ever play the game. Obviously, it means the world when he’s saying nice things about you.”

Other members of the Oilers’ dynasty of the 1980s share Gretzky’s enthusiasm about McDavid.

“Connor’s had a huge impact,” said Dave Semenko, a bellicose left wing for the ’80s Oilers who protected Gretzky on the ice. “To win the lottery that year, we knew what type of player we were getting. With the new building and having a player of his caliber who can just bring people out of their seats, there’s a new confidence in Edmonton.”

Semenko saw McDavid and Gretzky as similar in terms of star power, but distinct as far as their styles of play.

“They’re dynamic players, and they make every player they’re playing with better,” Semenko said. “They do something special on practically every shift. They both share amazing puck skills and vision. Connor plays at a very high level of speed. Wayne had the ability to play in a way that slowed things down, and he seemed to know where everyone was. You can’t teach these types of things.”

What McDavid has been able to learn are the nuances of leadership in recent years. He was named captain of the Oilers before this season, joining a tradition of Edmonton captains that includes venerated names like Gretzky and Mark Messier, for whom the N.H.L.’s leadership award is named.

Already a decorated player internationally, with gold medals in under-18, under-20 and senior world championships, McDavid was chosen as the captain for Team North America, an under-23 squad of Canadians and Americans, at the World Cup of Hockey in September.

Glenn Anderson, a right wing who teamed with Messier to win five Stanley Cups with the Oilers and one with the Rangers, predicted that McDavid would forge his own identity.

“You’ve got to do your own thing and carve your own path in the way you think is proper,” Anderson said. “In doing so, he’s going to learn. He’s going to learn a lot of things along the way, including from the past greats, as Gretz has. He learned from all the past greats.”

Oilers Coach Todd McLellan said that McDavid’s captaincy had been smooth and that little had changed in terms of his composure and disposition because McDavid had been a captain at every level of competition.

McDavid was deferential, saying the transition had gone well because of vocal teammates who contributed leadership.

He seemed unfazed by statistical accomplishments and monetary rewards, but one question brought out his intensity: How eager is he for a taste of the postseason?

“Very,” he said. “Here in Edmonton, it’s been a long time coming to make the playoffs. We owe it to the fans and we owe it to ourselves to give it everything we have to try and put ourselves in the playoffs. We’ve had a great first half, and we set ourselves up well to make a real push for it.”

Dave Caldwell contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D2 of the New York edition with the headline: Oilers’ Captain, Just Turned 20, Has Skills for the Ages. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe